Songbringer, the Zelda-like with hallucinogenic cacti, will be out in September

Have a look at a new gameplay trailer.

We described Songbringer when it was announced back in February as "a Zelda-like with galactic war and hallucinogenic cacti." I have no idea what that means, but it has lots of weapons, dungeons, and quests, and a "shirtless carefree dude" named Roq who's on a quest in a distant galaxy to find an "art party" spaceship called Songbringer. That all sounds pretty cool, Oh, and there are boss fights. Lots of boss fights.

The point of all this is to bring to your attention the news that Songbringer now has a release date of September 1, and a new gameplay trailer showcasing its lovely retro styling. The announcement also bears a more prosaic description of the game if you, like me, would prefer a proper idea of what's actually going on here.

"Songbringer is an action RPG inspired by the original Zelda games with real time combat, a wide range of weapons and a ton of hidden secrets. World maps are generated from a six-letter world seed, which determines the layout of the overworld and dungeons," publisher Double Eleven said.

"With the help of your robot companion Jib, it’s your job to save the universe from the ancient evil army you’ve accidentally awoken. Only by exploring the harsh world of Ekzerra, mastering the dungeons and defeating its fearsome bosses will you unlock the secrets of your own power and return the galaxy to peace."

Songbringer will feature both single-player action and a local co-op mode for two players, with full gamepad support and hundreds of unique items and powerups, many of which can be combined to create new, more powerful items. Each procedurally generated world will include one "overworld," ten dungeons, and 13 primary bosses, adding up to roughly 6-12 hours of play per adventure. A "roguelike-inspired permadeath option" will enable higher scores and faster runs, and all scores will be tracked via online leaderboards.

Alas, despite having a release date, Songbringer isn't available for pre-purchase yet, but you can dig into it a little deeper if you like on Steam or at songbringer.com.